Wheat Continued from Page 1
well,” Carter said she was surprised to learn California’s local wheat market remained undeveloped. Yolo County farmer Fritz Durst, who grows wheat as one of his primary crops, said he has to haul a large portion of his grain to Oregon for milling and then bring it back to California, because “there’s very limitedmilling facilities for small lots of grain” in the state. By doing it this way, he said he’s able to preserve the identity of his grain, which earns him a premium compared to selling it as a commodity to commercial millers. Though it takes more work to market small quantities and he would much rather sell truckloads at a time, Durst said he realizes some of his crop needs “to go out in small bags so people use it, like it, talk about it.” “There’s an evolution happening,” Durst said. “If you’re going to still be in the grainbusiness, youhave toevolve and be able to handle some of these smaller quantities, some of themore local needs for these grains.” Bob Klein, an Oakland restaurateur who founded Community Grains to acquire and market local, identity-pre- served, whole-milled grains—including fromDurst—saidhe thinks there’s “abso- lutely more interest” in developing a lo- cal grain economy. But he acknowledged “the market hasn’t really formed yet.” “It’s a big, complicated thing,” he said, explaining that when artisan bakers or pasta makers want to buy wheat from a local farmer, they’re buying perhaps a few hundred pounds at a time, but they need to be buying thousands of pounds ormore, “and you’re priced against com- modity wheat, which is quite low.” With the decline of wheat production in California, Klein said, “anybody with a head on their shoulders of any kind has to say, ‘We better figure something else out.’” He said Carter at the Wheat Commission “understands this.” To he l p g row new ma r ke t s f o r California wheat, Carter said the com- mission agreed to fund a $10,000 online database that connects farmers, smaller millers, handlers, bakers and other end users of California grains. Launched in
With limited commercial facilities in the state that will mill small lots of grain, Yolo County farmer Fritz Durst, right, uses a mill in Oregon that could preserve the identity of his wheat.
Photo/Ching Lee
September, theGolden StateGrainsweb- site directory currently lists 32 farmers, nine handlers, and a number of millers andmaltsters. Dan Mezger, a partner in Woodland- based Farmers Grain Elevator, said it may take a year or two for the website “to establish a solid base of some solid proj- ects.” As a handler and marketer, he said he’s using it to see what people want, so he could perhaps help consolidate proj- ects tomake themmore economically vi- able. Farmers Grain, for example, “won’t deal with anything less than a truckload,” he said, because “the price tagwould just be huge.” “The effort is to develop a market that obviously pays more to growers than common grain prices, but also brings down the cost for some of the end users,” he said. “You can’t really grow an expen- sive market. There might be demand, a customer might like it, but there’s only going to be so many people that can af- ford a $9 loaf of bread.” Unattractive wheat prices kept Yolo County farmer Bill Cruickshank from
planting the crop the last two years, but he saidhewill try growing someheirloom varieties this year. He acknowledged he would not be “messing around in the ar- tisanmarket” if global wheat prices were at levels of seven or eight years ago. “We’re seeing this artisanmarket, that there’s an appetite there,” Cruickshank said, adding bakers and shoppers “want to know what the story is behind” their grain, where it’s coming from and what its lineage is. The challenge, he said, is making sure there is consistent inventory in the state to grow this market. Carter said she thinks cottage bakers— those who operate from home kitchens and sell their products directly to cus- tomers—will play a key role in growing the specialty grain market. These bakers number in the thousands, she noted, and they are “driving this market muchmore than your local bakeries,”which aremore price sensitive. Larry Hunn, who grows wheat as a ro-
tational crop in Yolo County, said he has sold small amounts of his grain to artisan bakers who were operating out of their garage and selling bread to local stores. Though he made more money on the wheat he sold to them than if he had sold it to commercial mills, he said “my time is valuable, and trying to segregate some wheat for somebody is just not easy.” He said he applauds the commission’s efforts to try to transition farmers away from global grain markets, which are not profitable, but “until there is critical mass,” most of his grain will still go to a broker who can handle it in a timely and efficient manner. “If they can come to me and say, ‘I want 200 tons a week,’ then that’s more economical for me to move rather than a ton, especially when we’re harvesting 100 tons a day,” Hunn said. “I’ve got to go somewhere with it; I can’t pile it up.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.) challenge, because it has already shown the ability elsewhere to take refuge in Brassicaweeds. Another host plant that could help speed the arrival of this pest in the Salinas Valley is canola, aBrassica grownbymore than 40,000 Canadian farmers on 20mil- lion acres. The Swedemidge has already been de- tected incanola fields inOntario ineastern Canada, and there is concern it couldeasi- lymigrate towesternCanada, wheremost of the nation’s canola fields are located, and fromtheremovedownthecoast to the Salinas Valley. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
Pests Continued from Page 9
pest first appeared in 2013, increased to become themost important cole crop in- sect pest, then inexplicably diminished in importance the last fewyears. “I don’t thinkwehaveanygreat answers as to what is driving bagrada bug popu- lations,” Grettenberger said. “The Salinas Valley has very low populations now, but this year in Yolo County, a number of or- ganic farmers had problems.” One obstacle to bagrada bug control in the Salinas Valley is the large number of mustardsandotherBrassicaweeds,which provideanexcellent host for thepest in the absence of crops. The Swede midge could pose a similar
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10 Ag Alert December 2, 2020
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